PAPILLION, NEBRASKA -- I was hired by 24 Hour Fitness to be the Membership Manager for the Tara Plaza location in Papillion, NE. At first I was overwhelmed by the information I was supposed to retain but figured it was a new job and it was just a step I had to overcome. Another few weeks past and I started picking up on the business but still found it to be difficult and not worth the amount of money I was being paid. I finally took a stand and quit when my job of selling memberships to customers just became down right ridiculous. Part of their marketing scheme is giving out free passes to try to get people in the gym, and eventually signing those people up. The problem with this was that there was so many different types of passes coming through the door from all different types of people, I couldn't sign anyone up. Everyone just wanted to use their pass. There was passes on the 24 Hour Fitness website you could download, there was passes we were handing out in the gym, there was passes the company was emailing to customers that we didn't even know about! At the same time, my boss was calling and emailing people to come in and get a free pass, and then not honoring this pass when the customers walked through the door. We were also given the responsibility of trying to decode whether or not a person has been in the gym before with a pass, and if so charging them this time. I see over 200 different people a day walk through that door and I am supposed to remember? A whole other issue was deciding whether to charge an individual who walks through the door that isn't a member. There is no set guidelines as to who is supposed to be charged and who is supposed to be let in for free. It was basically my discretion as to who to charge and who not too. So obviously you can see this turned into an even bigger issue. I was told by my boss to charge people even if they came in with a pass that he told them to come receive. How does that work? Made me look like a huge idiot. My recommendation to the company is to do away with the free passes for good. This will make the membership staff's job a TON easier. If you aren't a member of the gym then you have to pay simple as that. If you are here for the holidays, you pay a flat rate for the amount of time you will be using the gym. If you are coming for one day, you pay 15.00 dollars or buy a membership no questions asked. If this business would just put their foot down and charge all of the holiday traffic that comes through the door instead of just letting them work out for free, I think they would make more money. At the end of the day people don't need gym memberships, they want them. 90% of my sales were to people who already had their mind made up before they walked through the door. So making a 100 calls and sending 100 emails a day isn't going to make someone buy a membership. All that is accomplishing is harassment. All in all, being the Membership Manager for 24 Hour Fitness was the worst, low paying, hardest and near impossible job I've ever experienced.

Was this review helpful?YesNo

Replies

1 Year Membership Gone to Waste

Posted by Brenda on 05/24/2012

Rating: 1/51

BEAVERTON, OREGON -- My friend gave me a one year premium membership at a Super Sport 24 Hour Fitness. She paid for the membership in full through her employer and later decided that she was unable to use it so she gave it to me. I was able to use the premium membership for only two months because I relocated for employment to a small town in Idaho. Unfortunately, there is not a 24 Hour Fitness in the vicinity of where I moved.

I called the manager at the Tanasbourne 24 Hour facility in Oregon and she basically said there was nothing they can do for me. The manager said it was because my membership was a gift and that my account shows a zero balance. My membership does not expire until March 2013! I asked the manager if I could place the account on hold or transfer it back to my friend who originally purchased it and she said they could not. I then asked if I had any other options available to save my 1 year membership and she simply said no.

I called the 24 Hour Fitness corporate offices and spoke with a customer service representative who also offered no solutions. I insisted that I speak with a supervisor or manager and the service representative placed a request for them to call me back. It has been 4 weeks (a wasted month) and I have not received a call back from any corporate personnel at 24 Hour Fitness. My phone number and my email have not been changed. If I call again I am worried that I will be put through the same routine with no results, but I will give it another attempt.

I do not recommend 24 Hour Fitness because that they do not care about their members at all. Obviously, they made money from my friendâs upfront purchase and did not own up to their promise or responsibility. What a shame that 24 Hour Fitness has gotten away with this type of business transaction.

Was this review helpful?YesNo

Replies

Liars, Manipulators, Cheats, No Customer Service!!!

Posted by tonydimone917 on 10/04/2011

I have gone through their humiliating harassment EVERY SINGLE YEAR of my membership since it became 24 Hour Fitness.

Many years ago when they called themselves Family Fitness, I signed a membership contract which included 5 other 'family' members at one flat rate of $96.00 a year. That was a great deal back then. Within a couple of years, they changed over to 24 Hour Fitness and my contract was 'grandfathered' in, so the terms stayed the same. But shortly thereafter, there were renewal issues EVERY SINGLE YEAR which require me to write, call, and speak to foreigners who don't understand what I'm saying, or play dumb.

Each year they bill me except that people are missing from my account. I'm guessing it's in hopes that I will give up the great deal I have and pay their newer expensive and elaborate prices for a new contract, or get so frustrated that I will just give up my membership deal with them altogether. Each year they come up with a new scheme or flat out say that they accidentally closed those memberships and then make me jump through hoops in order to reenstate them, even though they have my full payment in their bank.

This year they unilaterally cancelled all but myself and 1 family member. I asked what happened to the rest of my money that I paid last year, and they just said it will be applied to future payment for the 2 remaining memberships. You see, they are trying every trick in the book to complicate my renewal in order to make me give up, so that they can cancel this wonderful deal of a contract.

I have gone through the same 'games' with them every year, in spite of the fact they guarantee they have corrected the problem and insist that everything will be fine in the future. That's a lie! And they refuse to let me speak to their supervisor or give me any names or phone numbers to reach anyone other than their (Non existent) customer service. It is disgusting how they treat long loyal customers like dirt, apparently due to their greed. They leave you with no recourse or no options if you don't like their lack of service. There's no way to reach anyone else.
What a sham 24 Hour Fitness has become.

Was this review helpful?YesNo

Replies

Unprofessional, awful customer service

Posted by VMO on 01/25/2010

I have been a 24 Hour Fitness member since 2000. I got a deal with them back then with prepaid of 3 yr of membership, and $99 annual due thereafter. I haven't been really working out for the past couple of years and using their facility maybe once in a blue moon. I went in to work out couple weeks ago and was informed that my membership was terminated due to missing payment. The only way they can activate my membership is to provide proof of payment. My annual due date is 6/22/09, which is 7 months ago and I can't remember how I paid it and not to mention tracking my proof of payment. Basically, 24 Hour Fitness staff told me it's my problem, not their problem and nothing they can do about it. I went work out 8/31/09 (I put a comment on my Facebook and that's how I remember my last workout date), and no one told me that they didn't receive my due in June. Apparently, 24 Hour Fitness does have a 90 day grace period, so if someone would have told me I missed my payment when I last worked out on 8/31/09, I would have paid $99 and stayed on my membership (though I believe I made the payment but somehow didn't go through, as I have been paying for the last 10 years). All 24 Hour Fitness staff said "Sorry about that, again nothing we can do". I called the Club and membership services, all I got was run-around and "nothing we can do" & "you can negotiate a new contract with us". One membership service representative did tell me that he saw a note about payment on my account, but the company never got through it. He needed to check with Support Team and would get back to me. Of course, I never hear back from 24 Hr Fitness. I called again, and 24 Hr Fitness acted like nothing had happened and never heard my situation.
I am completely pissed at the way they treat loyal customer. There's always a solution to something. 24 Hour Fitness just simply doesn't care, they are after $, not care about you as a customer, not care about your health (They pretend they do when they try to persuade you to sign the Personal Training sessions). I see it as they try to screw me out of the sweet deal I got 10 yrs ago. I have no faith in this company and completely disappointed about how they treat consumers. DON"T GO TO 24 Hour Fitness, unprofessional, unethical, disgusting customer services.

Was this review helpful?YesNo

Replies

Costco prepaid 24 Hour Fitness membership

Posted by Yrhonda on 10/03/2009

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA -- I purchased (2) 24 Hour Fitness membership in April 2009 for my husband and I from Costco. At the time we were stationed at Ft. Lewis, WA and planned to retire and stay in the immediate area. In August, I was offered a job and it required me to move to Indiana. I immediately contacted 24 Hour Fitness customer service to inquire about a club in Indiana. They told me they did not have any clubs in the entire state and I could cancel my membership when I would no longer be able to use it. I told them to go ahead and cancel it and provide me with a letter or cancelled contract. 24 Hour Fitness told me to fax proof of my move to Indiana and they would issue me a refund. I called them the following day and they told me they received my fax and it would take about 7 days to process my requests. Next I asked about refunding the remaining months of my prepaid membership, and that's when the trouble begins. 24 Hour Fitness told me to contact Costco, because I purchased the memberships from Costco. Costco told me they could not issue me a refund because I had redeemed the 2 year membership certificates, and they told me 24 Hour Fitness would have to issue the refund. I went back and forth with 24 Hour Fitness and Costco for more than 2 weeks, until Costco told me to send them a copy of my husband and I membership cards and to have 24 Hour Fitness fax them a copy of my cancelled membership contracts. I contacted 24 Hour Fitness and I was told they would fax it by the end of the day. It did not happen and I have talked with 24 Hour Fitness 6+ times and I have talked with customer service reps, supervisors and individuals who claim to be managers and they have all told me lies to get me off of the phone. I spoke with a manager on the 23rd of September and I he told me he would ensure Costco received the fax no later than the 30th of September. On 30 September, Costco customer service sent me an email and told me they had not received anything from 24 Hour Fitness as of 6:12 pm. I called 24 Hour Fitness on 2 October and I spoke with a customer service representative who told me, they never received my proof of my move to Indiana and my membership had been reactivated back in August. I asked to speak with a manager immediately. After waiting over 25 minutes, a manager informed me, she would cancel my membership and it would take up to 30 days to receive confirmation. I canât believe a Costco who do any type of business with such a _______ company. FRUSTRATED and donât know where to go next!!!

Was this review helpful?YesNo

Replies

Terrible Customer Treatment

Posted by KatrinaL on 04/20/2010

I was training with a friend of mine at 24 hr fitness, who happens to work at one of the different clubs as a class teacher, but because I decided to train with her instead of paying for someone in the club to train me, she ended up being fired. The place I went to regularly were pissed that I didn't sign up with them, so they filed a complaint against us, and we were told that we were not allowed to work-out together any longer. It didn't matter that we met at a gymnastics where our kids went, or that we would meet up out of the club for our kids to play together, or that we good close friends. All that mattered to them was that I didn't sign up with them, and so when I quit, they accused her of being the reason I ended my membership.

It didn't matter that one of the managers at the club accused me that I was lying about paying my bill when their own computers screwed up my account, which took 2 months to fix.

The only good thing about the club I was at was the Kid's Club. It was the only reason I was staying, but when the management says your not allowed to work out with your friends, then punish them when you leave, it's one of worst treatments I've ever had at a health club.

Was this review helpful?YesNo

Replies

Stupid Business Practices

Posted by mrbuzz on 03/16/2010

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA -- I wanted tonight to check out the Parkmoor San Jose, California 24 Hour Fitness location with a 7 day pass. So I go in at 10:30 pm at night to see if I could get a light workout and check out the place.

I walk up to a young man at the counter and hand the pass over. He says to me "Did you even read this?" As if he was perturbed. I said "no". On the bottom of the pass states that you can only go into the gym between 8AM and 9PM. So he tells me that I can pay $10 for a one day pass or come back tomorrow. I told him I'll come back tomorrow.

First off, what's with this 8AM to 9PM time frame? This is so stupid. This is a 24 hour business is it not? So why restrict new potential members from joining outside those hours? Is it because you want to drill me with a salesman after I leave? Does not make sense whatsoever and very stupid.

Second, I asked if I could look around the gym. The guy at the counter says that I can only stand next to a line. I thought "What the heck? Am I some kind of cattle?" So I don't see the line and walk down the gym and the guy stops me and tells me I have to go back.

By then I was pissed. That was enough for me to know that I won't along with my other family members will join this place. It was obvious to me this person doesn't have a clue how to do sales nor understand how to make potential clients feel welcomed.

The other stupid thing? Never, did the person at the desk even attempt to show me around the gym. How dumb is that. There were two people at the counter at a very low member time. Obviously they were both idiots to not know how to do sales. If this is the way 24 Hour Fitness runs, I won't bother to deal with this place.

Was this review helpful?YesNo

Replies

Declining Quality

Posted by NotVeryHappy on 01/18/2010

BEAVERTON, OREGON -- I've been a 24 Hour Fitness member in the Portland, Oregon area for about two years. When I first joined I noticed all clubs in my area were "Sport" clubs, referring to a specific level of service. I frequently used several locations in my area along our local lightrail system. Over time, I've noticed that that managers at most of the clubs change often, some of the friendly maintenance staff who used to be around are more scarce, and equipment it falling into long-term disrepair. To give you an example, emergency exit doors with issues will churp several times a minutes. While your lifting weights at 5am this can be annoying. So I notified staff over a 3 month period and nothing was done, emergency exit door cherps away like it has for a while. Another example broken equipment stays broken for a long time. Cardio equipment is often down for 1-2 weeks. Audio and TV features of cardio equipment is broken then never repaired even after multiple written complaints handed to club managers in person. Inevitably, I purchased my renewal pre-paid membership understanding that equipment breaks, and needs to be down for repair. Unfourtanately the standard of repair is the bare minimum -- if its unsafe its either removed or fixed. Several of the clubs on my area are falling into disrepair. Mall 205 frequently has broken plumbing, Hollywood has broken plumbing and chronically broken equipment, dirty conditions, and staff who are arrogant. When complaining about a drinking fountain that was broken for 6+ months I told them they could have replaced it several times. The new strategy is to upgrade clubs to "super sport" level clubs, this involves renovations and additions of square footage. Then the customers get to pay more for access to the same facility with the same issues. While this does involve some new equipment, if they maintain it the same way the problems will be the same. I plan to leave 24 Hour Fitness as soon as my prepaid membership ends and head on over to LA fitness. Don't play their games -- the customer only matters when they are about to pay after that the customer is irrelevant.

Was this review helpful?YesNo

Replies

Cancellation of my expensive lifetime membership

Posted by Aplama on 09/06/2011

So I never received my bill from 24hr fitness and they terminated my account because failure to make my annual payment of 50 bucks for my lifetime membership. I paid about $800 up front for that membership because I love to stay fit, and the guy working their convinced me that it was a great deal. Next thing I know I left the country and left someone in charge to keep up the annual payments. By the time I get back, I come to the understanding that no bills were ever sent to my address, thus the bills were no paid. So I call asking about my membership, and find out it had been terminated!! So I explained myself and told them it is not my fault if I never received the bill in the first place, and then I offered to pay off the owed amount to reactivate the account. That didn't work either.... they told me, I should apply for a new membership after pocketing $800 of mine for having a membership with them for only 3 years!@#!@# Are you kidding me! This is how they get you with these deals, they look for any reason to terminate your membership after you have already paid for the large up front fee. Horrible dump this is, just horrible. They made no attempts to even keep me as a member nor come to a solution that I would be willing to meet halfway. Customer service??? I don't think that department exist in this company!!

Was this review helpful?YesNo

Replies

Are you kidding me? WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!!

Posted by Are_you_kidding_me? on 02/14/2011

I called at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Monday and couldn't get anyone who spoke English? when I asked for a supervisor I was told ALL supervisors were busy with other customers. I told the girl that I am not reinstating my membership until I speak to one, and the problem had been fixed. she then told me that her supervisor would call me within 24 hours then read back my "phone number" - which was not my phone number. she then took down my number and I had her read it back to me - she got none of the digits correct. after failing this basic task 3 times I told her I will just wait until one is available, I had time to wait.

I waited over an hour and 30 minutes, which she checked back to see if I was still waiting every 20 minutes. finally on the last time she checked to see if I was still waiting, she sighed and said "FINE!" two minutes later I was transferred to a "supervisor". not even the "supervisor" spoke enough English to effectively communicate. ridiculous!